Version 0.9.0
=Version 0.9.0= Released June 18, 2003 HIGHLIGHTS * To improve navigation, the map no longer automatically rotates when you turn. Instead, you can turn and the map stays fixed. This behavior can be changed via the "Rotate Map" checkbox in the Preferences menu. * The world map now displays your current position as well as the position of the person or landmark you are currently tracking. * Groups must have at least three members or risk being automatically disbanded. If a group has fewer than three members for three days, a warning will be issued from the system to the group members. The group will be automatically disbanded the next day if it still has fewer than 3 members. No refund of the group's creation cost will be given. * Text/logos on clothing will stretch less and look better across a broader range of avatar body types. Previously text would become distorted but now texture UV maps are adjusted for each morph. * Notification message is sent to your console and chat history when someone pays you money (or if you pay someone else). AVATARS New animation: Shooting a bow and arrow. Animations now blend together on a per-joint basis which means you can combine them in new ways, for example, you can walk while dancing. Smarter default orientation when attaching an object for the first time. Clicking on an attachment being worn by another avatar will produce same pie menu as clicking directly on the avatar. This is especially helpful when attempting to click on individuals wearing costumes. ACCOUNT INFO Resident names are always displayed with their correct capitalization. COMMUNICATION/NAVIGATION When someone you have referred to Second Life creates an account, you will automatically exchange calling cards. On their initial log in the system will issue an IM notifying you of their log in so you can greet them right away. Landmarks can no longer be made outside of the region you are in. In particular, you can't unplug your network cable, go sailing off towards the horizon, and make a landmark in a region you're not supposed to be able to get to. Thanks to James Miller for finding this bug. IM messages no longer appear in the chat history. History of current IM conversations can be access via their individual session windows. UI/BUILDING Undo (Ctrl-Z) now works for scaling operations, including uniform scaling of linked objects and scaling that shifts object position. The raise land tool will no longer lower land when attempting to slope-limit the terrain hopefully eliminating the recent outbreaks of ITS (irreversible terraforming stress.) SCRIPTS Three new script features: llGroundSlope(), llGroundNormal(), llGroundContour() that return named values. Scripts now sense avatars sitting on the scripted object itself. Script and notecard editors remember what size they should be. ASSORTED SYSTEM & SECURITY Put the code in place to support upcoming "sandbox regions" which will appear in the near future. These regions can be used for experimentation - no taxes are assessed on objects, but all objects are deleted every night at 3 AM Pacific Time. Enhanced surround sound support for systems with four or more speakers. FIXED BUGS/EXPLOITS (Remember: exploits and bugs should be reported to Linden Lab via the Bug Reporter under the "Help" menu) * Removed some instances of avatar "head jitter." * Scaling attached objects no longer crashes the servers, even when executed in a script. KNOWN BUGS ATI Radeon graphics cards: Second Life will eventually suffer from corruption on the display. Specifically, objects moderately far away (10-20 meters) will often display snow or black textures on their sides. Avatars may also appear corrupted. This problem appeared to be introduced in the ATI Catalyst 3.2 graphics card drivers. Reverting to Catalyst 3.1 usually fixes the problem. Unfortunately, Catalyst 3.1 contains another bug that causes the user interface to occasionally flicker on Radeon 9700, but this is usually preferable to the in-world corruption. ATI has a fix for the problem on Radeon 9500/9700 cards in their internal driver builds. They are still working on the problem for 8500/9000 cards. We will either post a patched version of Second Life or make a forum announcement when a fix is available. GeForce 2, GeForce 2 MX, and GeForce 4 MX: If your avatar appears to have holes in the shoulders and hips, please revert to nVidia driver version 41.09. After 41.09, nVidia dropped support for a driver feature we were using to join the limbs to the torso (GL_EXT_vertex_weighting and GL_ARB_vertex_blend, specifically). We now use vertex shaders to accomplish the blend, which are not supported in hardware on these cards, and are hence too slow to use. This will be addressed in a patch to Second Life. We have written our own software system for doing the limb joining and it will be released once we have finished optimizing it. Category:Release Notes